Winter Tyres - which ones do you have?

[NAM]

Evening All

I thought we ought to start a discussion (or continue the discussion) about Winter Tyres. Last year I didn't bother and skidded about on my Michelen Primacy 3's. This year, facing the need to change the rear tyres I've decided to jump in and after reading a review "Winter Tyre Test 2013" (eco.co.uk) eventually plumped for hte GoodYear UltraGrip 8's which have just been fitted.

I think I might have gone a bit early as they only come into their own when the temperature drops below 7C but I'm sure it is only a matter of time before the temperature drops.

My plan is to use them until April 2014 and then swop back to Michelin's. It is quite a financial hit but they should last a few years. I just wondered what others use and thought we could swop stories/advice and experience to help others thinking along similar lines to make an informed choice.
Just for the record my tyres are 225/55/R17's for a C5 III Tourer (complete with pressure sensors which so far have behaved themselves and survived two lots of tyre fitting).
Look forward to hearing about other options and I will update once they have been tested

[qprdude]

Never had winter tyres, and never likely to at £223 a corner for my car. Just short of £900 for a 4+ month stint is way too rich for my blood.
If manufacturers and safety campaigners want to encourage British motorists to use winter tyres, they are going to have to realise we haven't all won the bleedin lottery.
Yes, I know all the figures on winter tyre safety, but my car will just have to stay in the garage when the temperature drops. I'm hoping the buses have winter boots on!

[Northern_Mike]

Never had winter tyres, and never likely to at £223 a corner for my car. Just short of £900 for a 4+ month stint is way too rich for my blood.

£46 a corner for the Berlingo. That'll do me. That's for Vredsteins.

[Peter.N.]

I have never used them either, can't afford them and don't drive fast or close enough to need them nowadays. We get rain in the summer, admittedly we don't get snow or ice but if the roads are frozen solid they wont make any difference, unless you get the ones with metal studs and I don't think they are legal here.

Peter

[Mandrake]

I would like winter tyres in an ideal world but I just can't afford them at the moment and have nowhere to store summer tyres/wheels during the winter anyway.

I'm just going to cross my fingers that we don't get badly snowed/iced in - I don't need the car to get to work so if I can't drive it for a day or two until the gritters get their **** into gear, so be it...

[Dommo]

Until you try decent winter tyres you won't realise just how good they are in snow and ice. The amount of times I drove past stuck cars last year was unbelievable, I'd just try past almost laughing that there was no contest about who's tyres were better. I use Continental wintercontact ts850's as they were the best rated on a german tyre test, and have used them for the last 3 winters and will do this winter. I keep them on a spare set of wheels in my shed and swap to them when the temperature consistently drops below say, 5 degrees.

The blocks of tread have lines across them which allow the tyre to move more against itself which causes it to heat up more quickly (or at all, summer tyres barely heat up in the cold), and the softer compound allows it to grip better in the snow.


Here's a great demonstration of winter tyres:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l2cMlNRX_A

Or here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STaximkaQxo

[Hell Razor5543]

I use snow chains. Cheaper, and easy to fit/remove. OK, if you have alloys you won't want to use chains in case they get marked, but a prang might mark them up more.

[NAM]

I agree with Dommo and whilst I agree that good quality winter tyres are not cheap they should last a few years and so will average out ok. Plus I'm not using my summer tyres so they will last longer. The tyre fitter I use is storing my summer tyres (or you can keep them in the shed!). My main driver to use them this year was from talking to colleagues who rave about them and struggling for the past two years when it was very wet and snowy.

I tried to follow someone using winter tyres and couldn't keep up - they just drove up the snow covered road as if it were middle of summer whilst I was spinning and struggling to find a bit of grip.

Its good to get a mixed set of views - the best is yet to come so I look forward to hearing how things progress in the run up to December early 2014.

[Peter.N.]

I would agree that snow tyres are an advantage in soft snow but once it freezes, as it seems to do here very quickly, they don't help a lot. Of course being retired I don't have to go out when the roads are bad and as we live on a hill and the don't salt the lanes I wouldn't anyway.

Peter

[evilally]

I picked up a full set of Bridgestone Blizzak part worns for £75 from a part worn specialist. 5mm tread all round excellent condition. These went on a set of second hand steelies from ebay and I keep them aside for winter use. The difference in grip level is comical. Not just on snow, the rubber adheres better at low temperatures so even on dry tarmac they're better. The tread pattern handles standing water and mud much better. One wonders in fact if they'd be a better "all season" choice than all season tyres for average UK conditions.

Every winter you hear people whine that they need a 4x4 and that's what they'll be buying next. A FWD car with winter tyres has orders of magnitude more grip than a 4x4 on all season tyres, and that's a fact. Yes, it's extra expense but I certainly wouldn't go back, and it's cheaper than running a 4x4. Having confidence that you can stay mobile even when everyone else is whining about not having a 4x4 is great.

[KP]

There are a fair few decent retread ones about that older 4x4 guys reccomend for the price alone and grip.

on the other hand Disco/SSRR/FFRR owners tend to stick to Vredestien Wintrac 4 Extreme tyres as they last for a hell of a long time and their grip in poor conditions seems unrivalled. A few even run them all year round as they seem to find that they grip very well in the wet compared to summer or all round tyres

[Dommo]

once it freezes they don't help a lot.

I thought this until I tried them, honestly it's ridiculous how much grip they provide, especially on ice!

[daviemck2006]

On my ex's old 206 it would not move in snow with 195/50 15 pirelli summer tyres, put on 185/60 15 part worn vredsteins on a spare set of alloys I had and the difference was unbelieveable. Mu daughter has just put on 225/45 17 Nexen winters on her original alloys for the winter cost£350 for 4 fitted and balanced. That was on the recommendation of a local tyre man I have used for ages. Her astra was a bit slidy last year with 225/40 18 falken summers. My c4 is in hibernation, the van has plenty of tread o its michelins on the front and chinese crap on rear so is staying as is.

[Chris570]

once it freezes they don't help a lot.

I thought this until I tried them, honestly it's ridiculous how much grip they provide, especially on ice!

+1

I ran just winter tyres on the front (cheapie chinese ones @ £55 a corner) and my word, instead of having no grip its like driving on say loose gravel. So you don't have the full grip of tarmac but easily enough to get about. This was on snow and ice.

This year I shall be using 4 winter tyres. You could feel the grip difference between the front axle and rear axle.

[red_dwarfers]

I've been running Michelin Alpin A3s all round on my Xantia the last couple of years. They are 185/65 R15 and cost around £45/corner if I remember correctly. I bought them in the Autumn when there was less demand from http://www.oponeo.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; with free shipping from Poland. Considering they had travelled all that way, the tread hadn't worn dwon much Tested them out in the Alps and they seem to work pretty well. This is in Chamonix.



We though that this Xantia might take a bit of digging out though.



Filling up with Diesel in Switzerland, what a view!



Fuel prices in Luxemburg last Christmas, remember this is in Euros too!


A lot of the roads are car brochure material.


Driving around the Statue of Liberty.


Under the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belguim.


Driving through the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Italy. We only decided to go to Italy about an hour beforehand!